Take My Hand
by sapphyreangel
Summary: Falling for someone during a Zombie Apocalypse is usually the last thing on a person's mind. Now that they're safe, Ellis takes a moment to reflect on his growing relationship with the conman that stole his heart.


So I don't own L4D2 or any affiliated matter. Don't sue me coz all I got is some pocket lint and a half-eaten tub of Ben & Jerry's.

Been a bit stuck on my other stories and this idea wouldn't go away (and considering the amount of hours I've logged playing this game) so I wrote it down and decided to post it for fun. Btw has anyone truly listened to the verbal exchanges of the characters? I adore listening to them and my usual gaming companions are constantly amused by me standing near their characters to get them to talk, so to speak. Anyhoos, I'm gonna shut up and try to work on my other stories now that this has finally been banged out.

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><p>So maybe a freak occurrence of a Zombie Apocalypse was not the most appropriate of times to fall in love but Ellis did. He didn't mean to. After all they had agreed it was more of a relieving tension thing than whatever constituted a real relationship but he'd known right after the night they'd spent running around the Screaming Oak ride, hand-in-hand, that he was firmly in love with the caustic, sharp-witted conman.<p>

Rochelle and her typical women's intuition had seen the signs and while she got along with both of them fairly well, she had dragged Ellis off and told him to forget it. _He will hurt you_, she would repeatedly tell him over the next few weeks as they made their trek up to New Orleans.

Sometimes Ellis did wonder if it was true. Once he and Nick had cleaned up, Nick would either roll away to face the ceiling or he would walk away to have a smoke. He had asked once and Nick had muttered something about 'quickies' which left Ellis more confused than ever.

Oh, he wasn't dumb despite how he might talk and dress but he was certain Nick did care for him in his own way. Nick wasn't the type to share but he had shared his medikit, drink and food freely with Ellis and sometimes with Rochelle or Coach if they needed. He wouldn't share his cigarettes with anybody but that was okay, Ellis didn't smoke.

Then there was that incident in the wasted swamplands. They had separate rooms for once and Ellis had been pleasantly surprised when Nick had snuck into his room, shoved his cold feet with Ellis' and practically bear hugged him, a gruff but soft "I need you". They had stayed that way until the sky began to lighten and Nick disappeared back into his own room.

Coach had stepped in once while they had a quiet but furious argument. His mama had always told him to stand up for his rights and when their old church had cast them out when Ellis decided he preferred men to ladies, she had promptly smacked him and asked why did it take him so long to decide. So when Ellis decided to push for more, he had met with a strong resistance, Nick's reluctance.

In the middle of Village En Marais, or Swamp Town as Nick translated it, was not the best time to get into an argument but Ellis had been so angry that he actually slugged Nick right in the kisser. Coach had come to Nick's rescue then, placing himself between the two. He had felt ashamed when he had seen the large bruise that had bloomed on Nick's jaw the next morning but Nick had refused his apologies like a goddamn matyr.

Ellis knew that Rochelle and Coach had been disappointed with him, he could see it in their eyes. He was their golden boy, charming, cheerful with an easy disposition and yet he had blown up over a matter that neither would talk about.

It would have probably been better if Nick had accepted that apology, Ellis thought on hindsight. That fool knew that he would have been in deeper shit than ever if Rochelle and Coach thought that Nick had initiated it.

He had laughed bitterly as he remembered Rochelle's prediction. _You were wrong, Ro. Nick loved me, in his own way. But we were killing each other._

The sugar mill town was probably the best and worst part of the whole journey. He had nearly died when he had accidently provoked not one, but TWO, witches. There was a whole lotta shouting and gunshots and pain. So much pain, so much red in his vision.

He remembered Rochelle's muffled half-scream, half-sob somewhere from his right. Coach's strong arms as he ripped Ellis' shirt as efficiently and with as little jarring as he could and giving instructions. Nick's exclaimations of 'Oh god' and 'Please open your goddamn eyes, Ellis' and then there was this surge that pulsed through his body and his first glimpse after surfacing to consciousness was Nick's handsome face, wracked with water and worry.

They had slept together two nights later. When he lit up the Burger Tank sign to signal to Virgil, Nick had clasped his hand and turned to the other two, "We're sleeping with each other. Deal with it." Okay, so maybe Nick hadn't used those words but the message was all the same.

The rescue had been nothing but a lie. They had been transported to some hastily converted hospital/jail/research facility for 'carriers', people immune to the Green Flu but could infect others.

They had been assigned a basic loft with cheap walls erected to create two 'bedrooms'. Nick had taken a look and snorted; the rooms were just a bit bigger than a closet. Ellis had offered that he and Nick take the lumpy couch bed outside so that Coach could rest up on a proper bed -he had been badly banged up on their mad dash to the helicopter across the bridge. Nick had been a little annoyed but when night came and they were next to each other, hands tracing skin, their proximity had been enough to keep the nightmares at bay.

Needless to say Ellis got a lot of flak, jeers and slurs from the other Survivors inside the facility. Nick may or may not have gotten the same treatment but he never said anything so the other three never knew.

Christmas had been a little depressing. There was a couple of half-hearted attempts of parties and decorations but having been quarantined for two months could take a toll on anyone. Nick had managed to procure a couple of gifts for them which he had left on the table and a half-hearted excuse of 'they were sitting around and I had no use for them' but he, Coach and Rochelle knew better; there was the package of cupcakes for Coach, a romance-fantasy paperback for Rochelle and for Ellis, a small portable radio and a ring.

Nick had presented the ring later that night once Rochelle and Coach had sloped off to bed after nursing a couple of hot chocolates together. It wasn't just any ring but one of the rings that Nick wore for sentimental reasons. It was a simple diamond inlaid in a gold band with celtic etchings on the side.

Ellis remembers it quite well, often fiddling with it whenever Nick allowed Ellis to inspect his rings. Each ring had a different story to tell and Ellis knew most of them by heart now. There was only three he had never mentioned - Nick's missing wedding rings and the one that now rested on Ellis' left hand.

It takes him one week to confront Nick about the ring. Rochelle and Coach are chatting over the concentrate juice and a pack of cookies that Nick had swiped. Ellis and Nick are seated next to Ellis' radio, its whispery transmission playing upbeat tunes interspersed with CEDA/military warnings and reports.

Nick's lazy smile twists into a smirk. For a moment the rings on his right hand gleams as he runs his hand through his hair and Ellis is reminded of the one on his own hand.

Ellis spends a whole week wobbling between triumphant and depressing thoughts over the ring and Nick's smirk just makes his heart speed up a bit more. He scowls at the older man who joins Coach and Rochelle near their makeshift sitting room.

He hounds Nick discreetly as the night passes but Nick's smirk just gets bigger and bigger as time slides closer to twelve.

At midnight, Nick gives Ellis a kiss that taste of cigarettes and oranges. "It's a promise ring, El," He whispers before giving the younger man a half-lidded once-over, "A promise to survive this damn apocalypse and be with you."

Ellis knows the smile on his face could probably power the facility on its current wattage alone. The new year brings hope and promise to the four of them but Ellis' biggest blessing is sitting next to him and cheerfully squabbling with Coach.

The next time Nick makes Ellis angry, he's gonna look down at the ring and remind himself. Nick is a gambler, a drifter, a man who plays on chances and doesn't believe in commitment and yet he's willing to risk everything and an apocalypse to make the best of his relationship with a countryside mechanic and zombie-killing partner and Ellis wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
